Bibliographic indexes fulfill key functions in the communication of research, mainly through scientific journals. The digital records of each document that feed the indexes are operated in databases that allow various functionalities or services. Thus, the indices establish bibliographic control of research in specific areas, as is the case of LILACS for Latin America and the Caribbean, and MEDLINE, for the entire world in the area of health sciences; or they have a generalized scope covering all the thematic areas, as is the case of SciELO, for the countries of the SciELO Network and Scopus for the whole world. The indexes are used to search for information on research by different criteria (subject, author, institution, etc.) and, many of them, for the production of descriptive statistics and bibliometric indicators calculated on journals or articles based on citations. granted and received, which are used to measure and rank the scientific production of regions, countries, institutions, researchers, subject areas, etc.

These key functions of the indices are related to and impact the scientific ranking of researchers, research groups, graduate programs, universities and their faculties, departments and disciplines, countries and regions. Since the indexes index the research that is published in the journals they index, being indexed or not is a key issue for journals. Bibliometric indices rank journals and articles by performance indicators for citations received. Globally, the most widely used multidisciplinary indices are Scopus and the Web of Science, but, nationally and regionally, other indices are used. In Latin America Redalyc and SciELO are used. Thematic bases are used, as is the case of LILACS and MEDLINE for health sciences journals.

One of the most important contributions of indices is to give visibility to journals and the research they report. Thus, the journals seek to be indexed in the most important indices. Being indexed, journals seek to increase their performance in the ranking of bibliometric indicators. The performance in the rankings is identified as the journal’s impact. Pari passu, researchers seek to publish their articles in the most visible and high-impact journals.

To enter and remain in an index, journals must meet the requirements of standards and good editorial practices in terms of management, operation, and performance. The indices meet these requirements in the so-called indexing criteria. In general, there is a lot of similarity between the index criteria. Among international indexes, SciELO has one of the most advanced indexing criteria. The criteria are contextualized for the conditions of each country.

The seminar will address three presentations on converging topics. First, the structure and application of the SciELO indexing criteria and its main convergences and differences with the international reference indices. Second, a list of all the indexed journals of the SciELO Network countries, Third, the distribution of the indexing of the SciELO Network journals in the bibliographic indexes considering countries, subject areas and language of publication.